Device, record carrier and method for recording information

ABSTRACT

A device, record carrier ( 11 ) and method for recording information on a track ( 9 ) of the record carrier ( 11 ) is described. The record carrier ( 11 ) contains a disc information area with information about the record carrier ( 11 ), such as for example a write strategy for that record carrier ( 11 ). The device has disc information reading means ( 35 ) for reading the disc information area. The disc information area further contains extended information blocks. The extended information block have a block version number and additional parameters. The block version number defines how the additional parameters are to be interpreted. In this manner a more flexible backwards compatibility system is realized. Drives which are able to interpret the additional parameters of an extended information block can chose to use the additional parameters in that block. Older drives use other blocks or fall back to the first basic part of the disc information area.

The invention relates to a device for recording information on a trackof a record carrier, which record carrier comprises a disc informationarea with information about the record carrier, the device comprisingdisc information reading means for reading the disc information area.

The invention further relates to a record carrier having a track forrecording information, the record carrier comprising a disc informationarea with information about the record carrier.

The invention further relates to a method of recording information on atrack of a record carrier, which record carrier comprises a discinformation area with information about the record carrier, the methodcomprising a step of reading the disc information area.

A device and record carrier for recording information signals on arecord carrier is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,692. The record carrieris pre-recorded with a readable adjustment information which isindicative of the write signal wave forms required for the relevantrecord carrier material. The device for recording information signalscomprises a read device for reading such adjustment information on therecord carrier during a time interval prior to recording the informationsignal. The recording apparatus further comprises an adjustment circuitfor adjusting the write signal waveforms in conformity with the read-outadjustment information, by adapting the relationship between the writesignals and the information signals. Thus, prior to recording, the writesignal waveforms are always adapted automatically to the record carrierthen present in the device. The readable adjustment information areparameters used in the writing process.

With increasing speeds for reading and writing information signals on arecord carrier the write strategy is constantly changing. For differentwrite strategies different parameters are required. When additionalparameters are added on the known record carrier the recording devicesalready on the market are unable to interpret these additionalparameters, or these additional parameters are interpreted incorrectly.Consequently the record carrier is recorded with a wrong writingstrategy or the record carrier is not recorded at all.

It is an object of the invention to provide a system with a betterbackwards compatibility.

For this purpose, the device as described in the opening paragraph ischaracterized in that the disc information reading means are arrangedfor reading at least one extended information block in the discinformation area which extended information block comprises at least oneadditional parameter and a block version number indicator indicative ofthe definition of the additional parameter. The record carrier asdescribed in the opening paragraph is characterized in that the discinformation area further contains at least one extended informationblock which extended information block comprises at least one additionalparameter and a block version number indicator indicative of thedefinition of the additional parameter. The method as described in theopening paragraph is characterized in that the method further comprisesa step of reading at least one extended information block in the discinformation area which extended information block comprises at least oneadditional parameter and a block version number indicator indicative ofthe definition of the additional parameter.

This has the advantage that the device according to the invention isable to establish from the block version number if it is able tointerpret the additional parameters. If that is the case, the device canuse these additional parameters. If the device establishes from theblock version number that it is not able to interpret the additionalparameter, than it will not use the additional parameters and use thestandard parameters in the information area. If there are more than oneextended information blocks then the device establishes which of theextended information blocks contain a block version number for which itis able to interpret the additional parameters and chooses theadditional parameters which are best suited for that device. In this waythe recording device always is able to read the relevant informationfrom the information area, even if additional parameters are added onnew record carriers.

In an embodiment of the recording device the disc information readingmeans are arranged for reading the disc information area of a recordcarrier which disc information area comprises extended informationindicators which indicate the presence and location of the extendedinformation blocks. In this way the recording device can establish fromthe extended information indicators if there are extended informationblocks, and if so, where they are located. This increases the speed inwhich the recording device acquires the additional parameters.

In a further embodiment of the recording device the disc informationreading means are arranged for reading the disc information area of arecord carrier which disc information area comprises more than oneextended information block and a predetermined value of the blockversion number of an extended information block indicates that thatparameter block is a continuation of a preceding extended informationblock. If at one point in time the size of an extended information blockis too small to contain all the additional parameters, it is possible touse the next extended information block by setting the value of theblock version to a predetermined value indicating that the next extendedinformation block is a continuation of the previous extended informationblock. In this manner much more additional parameters with the sameblock version number can be stored in a unit of two or more extendedinformation blocks.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from andelucidated further with reference to the embodiments described by way ofexample in the following description and with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 a shows a record carrier (top view),

FIG. 1 b shows a record carrier (cross section),

FIG. 2 shows a recording device,

FIG. 3 shows the alignment of ADIP and information blocks,

FIG. 4 shows the ADIP word structure,

FIG. 5 shows the ADIP error correction structure,

FIG. 6 shows the ADIP modulation rules,

FIG. 7 shows a table of the disc information area,

FIG. 8 shows leading edge correction times,

FIG. 9 shows the record carrier sector numbering,

FIG. 10 shows a layout of a recorded single-session disc,

FIG. 11 shows the Inner Drive Area,

FIG. 12 shows a format of a Session Map block,

FIG. 13 shows a session item,

FIG. 14 shows Recorded Area Indicators,

FIG. 15 shows the Lead-in Zone,

FIG. 16 shows the structure of a Control Data Block,

FIG. 17 shows the Lead-Out zone,

FIG. 18 shows the Outer Drive Area,

FIG. 19 shows the layout of the Information Zone of a Multi-sessiondisc,

FIG. 20 shows details of opened Session n,

FIG. 21 shows the general format of a Disc Control Block (DCB),

FIG. 22 shows the Format of the Session DCB (SDCB),

FIG. 23 shows a Reserved Area item, and

FIG. 24 shows a Previous Session item.

Corresponding elements in different Figures have identical referencenumerals.

FIG. 1 a shows a disc-shaped record carrier 11 having a track 9 and acentral hole 10. The track 9, being the position of the series of (tobe) recorded marks representing information, is arranged in accordancewith a spiral pattern of turns constituting substantially paralleltracks on an information layer. The record carrier may be opticallyreadable, called an optical disc, and has an information layer of arecordable type. Examples of a recordable disc are the CD-R and CD-RW,and writable versions of DVD, such as DVD+RW. Further details about theDVD disc can be found in reference: ECMA-267: 120 mm DVD-Read-OnlyDisc—(1997). The information is represented on the information layer byrecording optically detectable marks along the track, e.g. crystallineor amorphous marks in phase change material. The track 9 on therecordable type of record carrier is indicated by a pre-embossed trackstructure provided during manufacture of the blank record carrier. Thetrack structure is constituted, for example, by a pregroove 14 whichenables a read/write head to follow the track during scanning. The trackstructure comprises position information, e.g. addresses, for indicationthe location of units of information, usually called information blocks.The position information includes specific synchronizing marks forlocating the start of such information blocks. The position informationis encoded in frames of modulated wobbles as described below.

FIG. 1 b is a cross-section taken along the line b-b of the recordcarrier 11 of the recordable type, in which a transparent substrate 15is provided with a recording layer 16 and a protective layer 17. Theprotective layer 17 may comprise a further substrate layer, for exampleas in DVD where the recording layer is at a 0.6 mm substrate and afurther substrate of 0.6 mm is bonded to the back side thereof. Thepregroove 14 may be implemented as an indentation or an elevation of thesubstrate 15 material, or as a material property deviating from itssurroundings.

The record carrier 11 is intended for carrying information representedby modulated signals comprising frames. A frame is a predefined amountof data preceded by a synchronizing signal. Usually such frames alsocomprise error correction codes, e.g. parity words. A number of suchframes constitute an information block, the information block comprisingfurther error correction words. The information block is the smallestrecordable unit from which information can be reliably retrieved. Anexample of such a recording system is known from the DVD system, inwhich the frames carry 172 data words and 10 parity words, and 208frames constitute an ECC block.

In an embodiment of the record carrier the track comprises multi-sessioninformation according to the format described below with reference toFIGS. 19 to 24.

FIG. 2 shows a recording device for writing information on a recordcarrier 11 of a type which is writable or re-writable, for example CD-Ror CD-RW. The device is provided with recording means for scanning thetrack on the record carrier which means include a drive unit 21 forrotating the record carrier 11, a head 22, a positioning unit 25 forcoarsely positioning the head 22 in the radial direction on the track,and a control unit 20. The head 22 comprises an optical system of aknown type for generating a radiation beam 24 guided through opticalelements focused to a radiation spot 23 on a track of the informationlayer of the record carrier. The radiation beam 24 is generated by aradiation source, e.g. a laser diode. The head further comprises (notshown) a focusing actuator for moving the focus of the radiation beam 24along the optical axis of said beam and a tracking actuator for finepositioning of the spot 23 in a radial direction on the center of thetrack. The tracking actuator may comprise coils for radially moving anoptical element or may alternatively be arranged for changing the angleof a reflecting element. For writing information the radiation iscontrolled to create optically detectable marks in the recording layer.For reading, the radiation reflected by the information layer isdetected by a detector of a usual type, e.g. a four-quadrant diode, inthe head 22 for generating a read signal and further detector signalsincluding a tracking error and a focusing error signal for controllingsaid tracking and focusing actuators. The read signal is processed byread processing unit 30 of a usual type including a demodulator,deformatter and output unit to retrieve the information. Henceretrieving means for reading information include the drive unit 21, thehead 22, the positioning unit 25 and the read processing unit 30. Thedevice comprises write processing means for processing the inputinformation to generate a write signal to drive the head 22, which meanscomprise an input unit 27, and modulator means comprising a formatter 28and a modulator 29. The control unit 20 controls the recording andretrieving of information and may be arranged for receiving commandsfrom a user or from a host computer. The control unit 20 is connectedvia control lines 26, e.g. a system bus, to said input unit 27,formatter 28 and modulator 29, to the read processing unit 30, and tothe drive unit 21, and the positioning unit 25. The control unit 20comprises control circuitry, for example a microprocessor, a programmemory and control gates, for performing procedures and functions asdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 24. The control unit 20 mayalso be implemented as a state machine in logic circuits. During thewriting operation, marks representing the information are formed on therecord carrier. The marks may be in any optically readable form, e.g. inthe form of areas with a reflection coefficient different from theirsurroundings, obtained when recording in materials such as dye, alloy orphase change material, or in the form of areas with a direction ofmagnetization different from their surroundings, obtained when recordingin magneto-optical material. Writing and reading of information forrecording on optical disks and usable formatting, error correcting andchannel coding rules are well-known in the art, e.g. from the CD system.The marks can be formed by means of the spot 23 generated on therecording layer via the beam 24 of electromagnetic radiation, usuallyfrom a laser diode. User information is presented on the input unit 27,which may comprise of compression means for input signals such as analogaudio and/or video, or digital uncompressed audio/video. Suitablecompression means are described for audio in WO 98/16014-A1 (PHN 16452),and for video in the MPEG2 standard. The input unit 27 processes theaudio and/or video to unit of information, which are passed to theformatter 28 for adding control data and formatting the data accordingto the recording format (as described below), e.g. by adding errorcorrection codes (ECC) and/or interleaving. For computer applicationsunits of information may be interfaced to the formatter 28 directly. Theformatted data from the output of the formatter 28 is passed to themodulation unit 29, which comprises for example a channel coder, forgenerating a modulated signal which drives the head 22. Further themodulation unit 29 comprises synchronizing means for includingsynchronizing patterns in the modulated signal. The formatted unitspresented to the input of the modulation unit 29 comprise addressinformation and are written to corresponding addressable locations onthe record carrier under the control of control unit 20. The controlunit 20 is arranged for recording and retrieving position dataindicative of the position of the recorded information volumes. Thedevice has mapping means comprising a mapping unit 31 coupled to thecontrol unit 20 and detection means comprising a detection unit 32coupled to the control unit 20 and the mapping unit 31. The mapping unit31 has an output 33 coupled to the formatter 28 for writing session mapblocks in a session map zone as described below. The detection unit 32has an input 34 coupled to the read unit 30 for detecting the sessionmap blocks from the session map zone. The detection unit 32 is coupledto the mapping unit 31 for transferring data from detected session mapblocks for generating new session map blocks including the existingdata. The mapping unit 31 is arranged for determining the position ofthe recorded information volume, also called session, in particular thestart and end address of each closed session. First a session is openedby writing an intro zone, then user data can be written by a number ofwriting commands, and finally the session is closed by filling allremaining blank areas and recording session control blocks and a closurepart at the end zone of that volume, as described below.

The disc information reading means 35 are coupled to the read unit. Thedisc information reading means 35 are able to read the disc informationarea. The disc information reading means 35 are arranged for readingextended information blocks in the disc information area. The device canproceed to read the disc information area in the following manner. Firstthe drive checks which extended information blocks are in use by readingthe extended information indicators. Next the drive checks the blockversion numbers of those extended information blocks. If the drive isnot acquainted with certain block version numbers it shall ignore thegroups with those numbers. The information in the extended informationblocks of which the numbers are familiar to the drive can beinterpreted. From these extended information blocks the drive can choosethe information which best fits its capabilities. As an example a disccontains two extended information blocks with the same block versionnumber. The first extended information block contains a 4× writestrategy according to a certain pulse train shape, with the speed range,the pulse durations and power levels specified by its bytes. The secondextended information block contains a 8× write strategy according to thesame pulse train shape, however with a different speed range, differentpulse durations and/or different power levels specified by its bytes,i.e. the meaning of the bytes is the same, only values are different.The newest drives can choose the record the disc at 8× speed. The olderdrives (capable of interpreting information in the second group, but notcapable of 8×) can chose to record at 4× speed. The first generationdrives can fall back to the basic strategy, available in the first partof the disc information area. As an other example a disc contains twoextended information blocks with different block version numbers. Thefirst extended information block contains a 4× write strategy accordingto a certain pulse train shape, with the speed range, the pulsedurations and power levels specified by its bytes. The second extendedinformation block contains a 8× write strategy according to differentpulse train shape, with a different speed range, and other pulsedurations and power levels definitions specified by its bytes, i.e. themeaning of the bytes can be completely different. The newest drives(familiar with the newer block version number) can choose to record thedisc at 8× speed. The older drives (not capable of interpretinginformation in the second extended information block) can only choose torecord at 4× speed. The first generation drives can still fall back tothe basic strategy.

The mapping unit is arranged for recording consecutive session mapblocks. When a session is completed a next session map block isrecorded, which comprises a session item for each closed session asdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

The system specifies the mechanical, physical and opticalcharacteristics of a 120 mm recordable optical discs with capacities of4.7 Gbytes and 9.4 Gbytes. It specifies the quality of the recorded andunrecorded signals, the format of the data and the recording method,thereby allowing for information interchange by means of such discs. Thedata can be written once and read many times using a non-reversiblemethod. These discs are identified as DVD+R. The track shape is asfollows. The recordable area, called the Information Zone, shall containtracks formed from a single spiral groove. Each track shall form a 360°turn of a continuous spiral. Recordings shall be made in the groove. Thetracks in the Information Zone contain a phase modulated sinusoidaldeviation from the nominal centrelines, called wobble, which containsaddressing information called Address-in-Pregroove or ADIP. The tracksshall be continuous in the Information Zone. The groove tracks shallstart at a radius of 22.0 mm max. and end at a radius of 58.50 mm min.The track path shall be a continuous spiral from the inside (beginningof the Lead-in Zone) to the outside (end of the Lead-out Zone) when thedisc rotates counter-clockwise as viewed from the optical head. Thetrack pitch is the distance measured between the average trackcentrelines of adjacent tracks, measured in the radial direction. Thetrack pitch shall be 0.74 μm±0.03 μm. The track pitch averaged over theInformation Zone shall be 0.74 μm±0.01 μm. The wobble of the tracks is asinusoidal deviation from the nominal centrelines, with a wavelength of4.265 6 μm±0.045 0 μm (equivalent to 32 Channel bits). The TotalHarmonic Distortion (THD) of the oscillator for generating the wobblesine wave shall be ≦−40 dB. The wobble is phase modulated by invertingwobble cycles. The information contained in the wobble modulation iscalled Address-in-Pregroove or ADIP.

FIG. 3 shows the alignment of ADIP and information blocks. Theinformation blocks 37 to be recorded onto the disc must be aligned withthe ADIP information 39 modulated in the wobble 38. It is shown that 93wobbles correspond to 2 Sync Frames, which are the start of aninformation block. Of each 93 wobbles, 8 wobbles are phase modulatedwith ADIP information. Further 1 wobble equals 32 Channel bits (=32T)and one ADIP unit=8 modulated wobbles per 2 Sync Frames.

FIG. 4 shows the ADIP word structure. 52 ADIP units are grouped into oneADIP word each. This means that one ADIP word corresponds to 4×13×2 SyncFrames≡4 Physical Sectors. Each ADIP word consists of: 1 ADIP syncunit+51 ADIP data units. The ADIP sync unit=4 inverted wobbles for wordsync+4 monotone wobbles. The ADIP data unit=1 inverted wobble for bitsync+3 monotone wobbles+4 wobbles representing one data bit. (see 0)

The information contained in the data bits of an ADIP word is asfollows:

-   bit 1: this bit is reserved and shall be set to ZERO.-   bit 2 to 23: these 22 bits contain a Physical Address. Data bit 2 is    the most significant bit MSB) and data bit 23 is the least    significant bit (LSB). The addresses increase by one for each next    ADIP word. The first address in the Information Zone shall be such    that Physical Address (00C000) is located at radius    24, 0_(−0.2)^(+0.0)  mm.-   bit 24 to 31: these 8 bits contain auxiliary information about the    disc, e.g. recording control information. In the Data Zone and the    Lead-out Zone of the disc the auxiliary bytes shall be set to (00).    In the Lead-in Zone of the disc the auxiliary bytes shall be used as    follows:-   Bit 24 to 31 from 256 consecutive ADIP words shall form one ADIP Aux    Frame with 256 bytes of information. The first byte of each ADIP Aux    Frame shall be located in an ADIP word with a Physical Address that    is a multiple of 256 (Physical Address=(xxxx00)). The contents of    the 256 bytes are defined in FIG. 7.-   bit 32 to 51: these 20 bits contain error correction parities for    the ADIP information.

FIG. 5 shows the ADIP error correction structure. For the ADIP errorcorrection the ADIP data bits are grouped into 4-bit nibbles. Themapping of the data bits into the nibble array is defined in FIG. 5. Bit0 is a dummy bit, which shall be considered as set to ZERO for the errorcorrector.A nibble-based RS (13,8,6) code is constructed, of which the 5 paritynibbles N₈ to N₁₂, are defined by the remainder polynomial R(x):${R(x)} = {{\sum\limits_{i = 8}^{12}{N_{i}x^{12 - i}}} = {{I(x)}x^{5}{mod}\quad{G_{PA}(x)}\quad{where}}}$${I(x)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{7}{N_{i}x^{7 - i}}}$${G_{PA}(x)} = {\prod\limits_{k = 0}^{4}\left( {x + \alpha^{k}} \right)}$α □ is the primitive root 0010 of the primitive polynomial P(x)=x⁴+x+1All bits of the 5 parity nibbles N₈ to N₁₂ shall be inverted beforerecording.

FIG. 6 shows the ADIP modulation rules. The ADIP units are modulated byinverting some of the 8 wobble cycles. FIG. 6 a shows Modulation of theADIP word sync, FIG. 6 b shows Modulation of an ADIP ZERO bit, and FIG.6 c shows Modulation of an ADIP ONE bit, wherein

-   -   PW is a positive wobble, which starts moving towards the inside        of the disc.    -   NW is a negative wobble, which starts moving towards the outside        of the disc.    -   all monotone wobbles are indicated as PWs.

FIG. 7 shows a table of an example of the disc information areaaccording to the invention. The disc information area shall hereinafteralso referred to as Physical disc information. The Physical discinformation is encoded in ADIP as described above. This informationshall comprise the 256 bytes shown in FIG. 7. It contains discinformation and values used for the Optimum Power Control (OPC)algorithm to determine optimum laser power levels for writing. Theinformation is copied into a recordable zone called the Control Dataduring initialization of the disc. The data contents are for example:

Byte 0—Disc Category and Version Number

-   Bits b7 to b4 shall specify the Disc Category,    -   they shall be set to 1010, indicating a DVD+R disc.-   Bits b3 to b0 shall specify the Version Number,    -   they shall be set to 0000 indicating the version        Byte 1—Disc Size and Maximum Transfer Rate-   Bits b7 to b4 shall specify the disc size,    -   they shall be set to 0000, indicating a 120 mm disc-   Bits b3 to b0 shall specify the maximum read transfer rate, they    shall be set to 1111 indicating no maximum read transfer rate is    specified    Byte 2—Disc Structure-   Bit b7 to b4 shall be set to 0000-   Bits b3 to b0 shall specify the type of the recording layer(s):    -   they shall be set to 0010, indicating a write-once recording        layer.        Byte 3—Recording Density-   Bits b7 to b4 shall specify the average Channel bit length in the    Information Zone,    -   they shall be set to 0000, indicating 0.133 μm-   Bits b3 to b0 shall specify the average track pitch,    -   they shall be set to 0000, indicating an average track pitch of        0.74 μm        Bytes 4 to 15—Data Zone Allocation-   Byte 4 shall be set to (00).-   Bytes 5 to 7 shall be set to (030000) to specify PSN 196.608 of the    first Physical Sector of the Data Zone-   Byte 8 shall be set to (00).-   Bytes 9 to 11 shall be set to (26053F) to specify PSN 2.491.711 as    the last possible Physical Sector of the Data Zone.-   Bytes 12 to 15 shall be set to (00)    Byte 16—(00) Shall be Set to (00).    Byte 17—Reserved. This byte is reserved and shall be set to (00).    Byte 18—Extended Information Indicators-   Bits b7 to b6 are reserved and shall be set to 00-   Bits b5 to b0 each of these bits shall indicate the presence of an    Extended Information block. Bit b_(i) shall be set to 1 if Extended    Information block i, consisting of bytes (64+i×32) to (95+i×32), is    in use. Else bit b₁ shall be set to 0.    Bytes 19 to 26—Disc Manufacturer ID.    -   These 8 bytes shall identify the manufacturer of the disc.        Trailing bytes not used shall be set to (00).        Bytes 27 to 29—Media Type ID.    -   Disc manufacturers can have different types of media, which        shall be specified by these 3 bytes. The specific type of disc        is denoted in this field.        Byte 30—Product Revision Number.    -   This byte shall identify the product revision number in binary        notation. All discs with the same Disc Manufacturer ID and the        same Product ID, regardless of Product revision numbers, must        have the same recording properties (only minor differences are        allowed: Product revision numbers shall be irrelevant for        recorders). If not used this byte shall be set to (00)        Byte 31 Number of Physical Format Information Bytes in Use.    -   This byte forms one 8-bit binary number indicating the number of        bytes actually in use for Physical format information. It shall        be set to (36) indicating that only the first 54 bytes of the        Physical format information are used.        Byte 32—Reference Recording Velocity.    -   This byte indicates the lowest possible recording velocity of        the disc, which is also referred to as the Reference velocity,        as a number n such that        n=10×vef (n rounded off to an integral value)    -    It shall be set to (23) indicating a Reference writing speed of        3.49 m/s.        Byte 33—Maximum Recording Velocity.    -   This byte indicates the highest possible recording velocity of        the disc, as a number n such that        n=10×v_(ref) (n rounded off to an integral value)    -    It shall be set to (54) indicating a maximum writing speed of        8.44 m/s.        Byte 34—Wavelength λIND.    -   This byte shall specify the wavelength in nanometers of the        laser with which the optimum write parameters in the following        bytes have been determined, as a number n such that        n=Wavelength−600        Byte 35 Reserved        Byte 36 Maximum Read Power, Pr at Reference Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the maximum read power Pr in milliwatts        at the reference velocity as a number n such that        n=20×(Pr−0.7)        Byte 37—PIND at Reference Velocity.    -   PIND is the starting value for the determination of Ppo used in        the OPC algorithm. This byte shall specify the indicative value        PIND of Ppo in milliwatts at the reference velocity as a number        n such that        n=20×(P _(IND)−5)        Byte 38—β_(target) at Reference Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the target value for β,β_(Target) at the        reference velocity used in the OPC algorithm as a number n such        that        n=10×β_(target)        Byte 39—Maximum Read Power, Pr at Maximum Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the maximum read power Pr in milliwatts        at the maximum velocity as a number n such that        n=20×(Pr−0,7)        Byte 40—P_(IND) at Maximum Velocity.    -   P_(IND) is the starting value for the determination of Ppo used        in the OPC algorithm. This byte shall specify the indicative        value PIND of Ppo in milliwatts at the maximum velocity as a        number n such that        n=20×(PIND−5)        Byte 41—β_(target) at Maximum Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the target value for β, β_(target) at        the maximum velocity used in the OPC algorithm as a number n        such that        n=10×β_(target)        Byte 42—Ttop (≧4) First Pulse Duration for Current Mark 24 at        Reference Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the first pulse of the        multi pulse train when the current mark is a 4T or greater mark        for recording at reference velocity. The value is expressed in        fractions of the channel bit clock period as a number n such        that        n=16×T _(top) /T _(w) and 4≦n≦40        Byte 43—Ttop (=3) First Pulse Duration for Current Mark=3 at        Reference Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the first pulse of the        multi pulse train when the current mark is a 3T mark for        recording at reference velocity. The value is expressed in        fractions of the channel bit clock period as a number n such        that        n=16×T _(top) /T _(W) and 4≦n≦40        Byte 44—Tmp Multi Pulse Duration at Reference Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the 2nd pulse through        the 2nd to last pulse of the multi pulse train for recording at        reference velocity. The value is expressed in fractions of the        channel bit clock period as a number n such that        n=16×T _(mp) /T _(W) and 4≦n≦16        Byte 45-Tlp Last Pulse Duration at Reference Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the last pulse of the        multi pulse train for recording at reference velocity. The value        is expressed in fractions of the channel bit clock period as a        number n such that        n=16×T _(lp)/T_(w) and 4≦n≦24        Byte 46—dTtop First Pulse Lead Time at Reference Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the lead time of the first pulse of the        multi pulse train relative to the trailing edge of the second        channel bit of the data pulse for recording at reference        velocity. The value is expressed in fractions of the channel bit        clock period as a number n such that        n=16×dT _(top) /T _(w) and 0≦n≦24        Byte 47—dTle 1st Pulse Leading Edge Correction for Previous        Space=3 at Reference Velocity.    -   Bit 7 to bit 4 of this byte shall specify the leading edge        correction for the 1st pulse of the multi pulse train when the        previous space was a 3T space for recording at reference        velocity. The value is expressed in fractions of the channel bit        clock period according to FIG. 8.        Byte 48—Ttop (≧4) First Pulse Duration for Current Mark 24 at        Maximum Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the first pulse of the        multi pulse train when the current mark is a 4T or greater mark        for recording at maximum velocity. The value is expressed in        fractions of the channel bit clock period as a number n such        that        n=16×T _(top) /T _(W) and 4≦n≦40        Byte 49-Ttop (3) First Pulse Duration for Current Mark=3 at        Maximum Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the first pulse of the        multi pulse train when the current mark is a 3T mark for        recording at maximum velocity. The value is expressed in        fractions of the channel bit clock period as a number n such        that        n=16×T _(top) /T _(w) and 4≦n≦40        Byte 50 Tmp Multi Pulse Duration at Maximum Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the 2nd pulse through        the 2nd to last pulse of the multi pulse train for recording at        maximum velocity. The value is expressed in fractions of the        channel bit clock period as a number n such that        n=16×T _(mp) /T _(w) and 4≦n≦16        Byte 51—T_(lp) Last Pulse Duration at Maximum Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the duration of the last pulse of the        multi pulse train for recording at maximum velocity. The value        is expressed in fractions of the channel bit clock period as a        number n such that        n=16×T _(lp) /T _(w) and 4≦n≦24        Byte 52—dTtop First Pulse Lead Time at Maximum Velocity.    -   This byte shall specify the lead time of the first pulse of the        multi pulse train relative to the trailing edge of the second        channel bit of the data pulse for recording at maximum velocity.        The value is expressed in fractions of the channel bit clock        period as a number n such that        n=16×dT _(top) /T _(w) and 0≦n≦24        Byte 53—dTle First Pulse Leading Edge Correction for Previous        Space=3 at Maximum Velocity.    -   Bit 7 to bit 4 of this byte shall specify the leading edge        correction for the 1st pulse of the multi pulse train when the        previous space was a 3T space for recording at maximum velocity.        The value is expressed in fractions of the channel bit clock        period according to FIG. 8.        Bytes 54 to 63—Reserved—All (00).    -   These bytes shall be set to all (00).        Bytes (64+i×32) to (95+i×32)—Extended Information Block i        (i=0.5)    -   To facilitate future extensions, Extended Information blocks are        introduced. Each such block consists of 32 bytes. These bytes        can hold for instance parameters for an alternative write        strategy, e.g. for High-Speed recording, or other advanced        parameters. The presence of an Extended Information block shall        be indicated by a bit in byte 18.    -   Byte (64+i×32) Extended Information block i version number        indicates the block version and identifies the definitions of        the data in bytes (64+i×32) to (95+i×32). A disc can have        several Extended Information blocks of which the block version        numbers can be the same as well as different.    -   Drives not acquainted with the specific block version number in        block i, should not use the disc with the advanced parameters in        this Extended Information block.    -   If the block version number is set to 255, the related Extended        information block is not an independent block but a continuation        of the preceding Extended Information block (to be used if 32        bytes are not sufficient for a set of parameters).        Bytes (65+i×32) to (95+i×32)    -   these bytes can be used to hold alternative write strategies or        other parameters.        Example for High-Speed Write Strategy Parameters-   Byte 18: 0000 0001 indicating Extended Information block 0 is in    use.-   Byte 64: 0000 0001 indicating block version 1, for which bytes 65 to    95 have the following meaning:-   Byte 65: Maximum recording velocity for the parameter set in this EI    block: n×0.25 m/s, (max≦63.75 m/s=18.25x=175 Hz @ R=58 mm)-   Byte 66: Minimum recording velocity for the parameter set in this EI    block: n×0.25 m/s, (minimum recording velocity is allowed to    be=maximum recording velocity)-   Byte 67: reserved and set to (00)-   Byte 68 to 81: parameter set for maximum recording velocity-   byte 68: PIND-   byte 69: βtarget-   byte 70: Ttop (≧4) first pulse duration for cm≧4-   byte 71: Ttop (=3) first pulse duration for cm=3-   byte 72: Tmp multi pulse duration-   byte 73: Tlp last pulse duration-   byte 74: dTtop (≧4) first pulse lead time for cm≧4-   byte 75: dTtop (=3) first pulse lead time for cm=3-   byte 76: dTle 1st pulse leading edge correction for ps=3-   byte 77: dTle 1 st pulse leading edge correction for ps=4-   byte 78: reserved and set to (00)-   byte 79: reserved and set to (00)-   byte 80: reserved and set to (00)-   byte 81: reserved and set to (00)-   Byte 82 to 95: parameter set for minimum recording velocity-   byte 82: PIND-   byte 83: βtarget-   byte 84: Ttop (≧4) first pulse duration for cm≧4-   byte 85: Ttop (=3) first pulse duration for cm=3-   byte 86: Tmp multi pulse duration-   byte 87: Tlp last pulse duration-   byte 88: dTtop (≧4) first pulse lead time for cm≧4-   byte 89: dTtop (=3) first pulse lead time for cm=3-   byte 90: dTle 1st pulse leading edge correction for ps=3-   byte 91: dTle 1st pulse leading edge correction for ps=4-   byte 92: reserved and set to (00)-   byte 93: reserved and set to (00)-   byte 94: reserved and set to (00)-   byte 95: reserved and set to (00)

FIG. 8 shows leading edge correction times. The parameter is called dTleand is described above with FIG. 7 in byte 47. Bit 3 to bit 0 of thisbyte shall be set to 0000. Bit combinations not specified shall not beused.

FIG. 9 shows the record carrier sector numbering. The recordable area iscalled information zone. The Information Zone shall contain allinformation on the disc relevant for data interchange. The InformationZone may contain one or more sessions. Each session shall be divided inthree parts: a Lead-in/Intro Zone, a Data Zone and a Lead-out/ClosureZone. In double-sided discs there is one Information Zone per side. TheData Zones are intended for the recording of User Data. The Lead-in Zonecontains control information. The Lead-out Zone allows for a continuoussmooth lead-out and also contains control information. The Inner andOuter Drive Areas are meant for disc testing. A description is given fora Single-session disc. In such a disc, the Lead-in Zone, the Data Zoneand the Lead-out Zone constitute the recordable area in which theinformation is recorded using a non-reversible effect. The layout of aMulti-session disc is defined later.

FIG. 10 shows a layout of a recorded single-session disc. TheInformation Zone of single-sided and of each side of double-sided discsare sub-divided in an Inner drive area, a Lead-In, a Data zone, aLead-Out area and an Outer Drive area. The radii are indicated for theZones by nominal values of the centre of the first (or last) track ofthe Zone. Physical Sector Numbers (PSNs) are shown of the first PhysicalSector of the each Zone. The Data zone shall have a first PSN (030000).The PSNs increase by 1 for each next Physical Sector in the wholeInformation Zone.

FIG. 11 shows the Inner Drive Area. The Inner Drive Area is theinnermost zone of the disc which is used by the drive for performingdisc tests and OPC algorithms. The Physical Sector Number of the firstand last Physical Sector of each part is indicated in hexadecimal anddecimal notation and the number of Physical Sectors in each part areindicated in decimal notation. The following subdivision is shown:

-   -   Initial Zone: This Zone shall remain blank.    -   Inner Disc Test Zone: 16384 Physical Sectors reserved for drive        testing and OPC.    -   Inner Disc Count Zone: 4096 Physical Sectors reserved for        counting the number of OPC algorithms performed in the Inner        Disc Test Zone. Whenever an ECC Block or part—of it in the Inner        Disc Test Zone has been recorded, the ECC Block shall be flagged        by recording 4 Physical Sectors in the Inner Disc Count Zone.    -   Inner Disc Administration Zone: 4096 Physical Sectors to be used        for optional drive specific information. The first 16 physical        sectors of this Zone shall be filled with all Main Data set to        (00). The Inner Disc Administration Zone contains drive        information, e.g. a drive identification (Drive ID) and data as        defined by the drive manufacturer.    -   Session map Zone: 4096 Physical Sectors to store information        about the locations of Sessions and recordings on the disc. The        first 16 physical sectors of this Zone shall be filled with all        Main Data set to (00). This Zone consists of 2 parts:        part 1: consists of 191 ECC Blocks called Session Map blocks        (SEM) to be used to store the locations of all Closed Sessions,        part 2: consists of 1024 Physical Sectors, grouped in units of 4        sectors, where each unit corresponds to one ADIP word. These        units shall be used as Recorded Area Indicators.

FIG. 12 shows a format of a Session Map block (SEM). Whenever a Sessionis closed, the next ECC Block in the Session map Zone, immediatelyfollowing the last SEM, shall be recorded with the locations of allClosed Sessions. The first ECC Block in the Session map Zone has to beused as a run-in for the second ECC Block. If all 191 blocks have beenused, additional Sessions still can be added, however the drive willhave to apply a search procedure to find the additional Sessions. TheFigure shows the following contents for the SEM for each physicalsector:

-   Physical Sector 0/bytes D0 to D3—Content Descriptor. These bytes    identify the Session DCB and shall be set to (544F4300),    representing the characters “SDC” and the version number 0.-   Physical Sector 0/byte D4 to D7—Reserved. To be set to (00)-   Physical Sector 0/byte D8 to D39—Drive ID. These bytes shall contain    the drive ID.-   Physical Sector 0/byte D40 to D63—Reserved. To be set to (00)-   Physical Sector 0/byte D64 to D2047—Session items. These bytes are    grouped in units of 16 bytes each. Each unit of 16 bytes can contain    a Session item according to

FIG. 13. All unused bytes shall be set to (00).

FIG. 13 shows a session item. The Session Map block (SEM) shall containa Session item for each Closed Session on the disc. The Session itemsshall be ordered with increasing numbers and addresses, as follows:

-   byte B0 to B2: these 3 bytes identify the item type and shall be set    to (53.53.4E), representing the characters “SSN”.-   byte B3: this byte shall specify the sequence number of the Session    specified in this item.-   byte B4 to B7: these 4 bytes shall specify the PSN of the first    Physical Sector in the Data Zone of the Session specified in this    item.-   byte B8 to B11: these 4 bytes shall specify the PSN of the last    Physical Sector in the Data Zone of the Session specified in this    item.-   byte B12 to B15: these 4 bytes are reserved and shall be set to    (00).

FIG. 14 shows Recorded Area Indicators. The last part of the SEM zonefor recording SEM blocks 61 is shown schematically. A mapping area 60 islocated at the end of the SEM zone. The next zone, i.e. the Guard zone62, is shown at the right end. The mapping area is recorded starting atthe highest address. A recorded part 64 indicates the recorded regionsof the recordable area, and the unrecorded part 63 indicates unrecordedregions. To speed up the access of the disc, the recorder needs to knowin which region of the disc the last written ECC Block can be found. Forthis purpose the mapping area is defined, based on recorded areas withthe size of 4 Physical Sectors, each area corresponding to one ADIPword. These areas shall be recorded with random EFM signals. No gaps areallowed between recorded ADIP words. 1024 Physical Sectors have beenreserved for this purpose, allowing to divide the disc into maximum 256regions. The Recorded Area Indicators shall be used from the outer sideof the SEM Zone towards the inner side of the SEM Zone. By means of an“W-detection” the recorder can find the location of the start of theRecorded Area Indicators and determine the region in which the lastrecorded ECC Block can be found. Each region of 640 ECC Blocks betweenPSN=(030000) and PSN=(26053F) corresponds to one Recorded AreaIndicator. All regions up to and including the last recorded ECC Blockshall be indicated by their Recorded Area Indicator. In mathematicalform: if the first Recorded Area Indicator is composed of the PhysicalSectors with PSNRAI to PSNRAI+3, than the last recorded ECC Block can befound between:PSN={(02A47C)−(PSNRAI)}×(A0)+(030000) andPSN={(02A47C)−(PSNRAI)}×(A0)+(030280)or in decimal notation:PSN={173180−PSNRAI}×160+196608 andPSN={173180−PSNRAI}×160+197248

FIG. 15 shows the Lead-in Zone. The Lead-in Zone is located at the innerside of the Information Zone. A maiden disc does not have any datarecorded in the Lead-in Zone. After finalization of the disc or closingof the first Session, the Lead-in Zone shall be recorded as describedbelow. FIG. 15 shows the zones and the addresses, as follows (notationlike in FIG. 11):

-   -   Guard Zone 1: The Guard Zone is used to create a minimum amount        of Lead-in Zone required for compatibility. This zone shall        contain 14.848 Physical Sectors, all filled with Main Data set        to (00).    -   Reserved Zone 1: 4096 Physical Sectors are reserved and shall be        set (00).    -   Reserved Zone 2: 64 Physical Sectors are reserved and shall be        set (00).    -   Inner Disc Identification Zone: 256 Physical Sectors reserved        for information agreed upon by the data interchange parties.        Each set of 16 Physical Sectors from one ECC Block is either a        Disc Control Block (DCB) or recorded with all (00) Main Data.        Each ECC Block in this Zone following one recorded with all (00)        Main Data shall also be recorded with all (00) Main Data.    -   Reserved Zone 3: 64 Physical Sectors are reserved and shall be        set (00).    -   Reference Code Zone: The recorded Reference Code Zone shall        consist of the 32 Physical Sectors from two ECC Blocks which        generate a specific Channel bit pattern on the disc. This shall        be achieved by setting to (AC) all 2048 Main Data bytes of each        corresponding Data Frame. Moreover, no scrambling shall be        applied to these Data Frames, except to the first 160 Main Data        bytes of the first Data Frame of each ECC Block.    -   Buffer Zone 1: This Zone shall consist of 480 Physical Sectors        from 30 ECC Blocks. The Main Data of the Data Frames in this        Zone shall be set to all (00).    -   Control Data Zone: This Zone shall consist of 3072 Physical        Sectors from 192 ECC Blocks. The content of the 16 Physical        Sectors of each ECC Block is repeated 192 times.    -   Buffer Zone 2: This recorded Zone shall consist of 512 Physical        Sectors from 32 ECC Blocks. The Main Data of the Data Frames in        this Zone shall be set to all (00).

FIG. 16 shows the structure of a Control Data Block. The first 2048bytes constitute Physical format information, of which the contents aregiven in FIG. 7. The next 2048 bytes constitute Disc Manufacturinginformation. The last 14×2048 bytes are available for Content ProviderInformation. In an embodiment of the device the 28.672 bytes of ContentProvider Information are set to zero (00). Data received from a host beis blocked and not recorded in this field. This prevents data of aconfidential nature, for example decryption keys for decoding video of aDVD video disc, to be recorded here. The Physical format informationcontains disc and format information. The information in bytes 0 to 255shall be copied from the ADIP auxiliary data during finalization of thedisc or closing of the first Session, and shall reflect the actualstatus of the disc or first Session (e.g. the actual end of the DataZone). All 256 bytes have the same definitions and contents as thePhysical Disc information defined in FIG. 7, except the following bytes:

-   Byte 0—Disc Category and Version Number-   Bits b7 to b4 shall specify the Disc Category indicating a DVD+R    disc.-   Bits b3 to b0 shall specify the Version Number of the System    Description-   Byte 1—Disc size and maximum transfer rate-   Bits b7 to b4 shall specify the disc size,    -   they shall be set to 0000, indicating a 120 mm disc-   Bits b3 to b0 shall specify the maximum read transfer rate.    -   These bits may be set to one of the following values, depending        on the maximum read-out speed needed by the application:    -   0000: a maximum transfer rate of 2.52 Mbits/s    -   0001: a maximum transfer rate of 5.04 Mbits/s    -   0010: a maximum transfer rate of 10.08 Mbits/s    -   1111: no maximum transfer rate is specified.    -   All other combinations are reserved and shall not be used.-   Byte 2—Disc structure-   Bit b7 to b4 shall be set to 0000-   Bits b3 to b0 shall specify the type of the recording layer(s):    -   they shall be set to 0010, indicating a write-once recording        layer.-   Bytes 4 to 15—Data Zone allocation-   Byte 4 shall be set to (00).-   Bytes 5 to 7 shall be set to (030000) to specify PSN 196.608 of the    first Physical Sector of the Data Zone-   Byte 8 shall be set to (00).-   Bytes 9 to 11 shall specify the Sector Number of the last Physical    Sector of the Data Zone of the first Session.-   Bytes 12 to 15 shall be set to (00)-   Bytes 256 to 2 047—Reserved. These remaining bytes have no relation    to the ADIP information and shall be set to zero (00).

FIG. 17 shows the Lead-Out zone. At the top the data zone 70 forrecording user data is shown. The data zone has 2.295.104 PhysicalSectors of user data area. The start radius of the Data Zone isdetermined by the location of ADIP Physical Address (00C000). After theData zone follows the Lead-out Zone. The Lead-out Zone is located at theouter side of the Information Zone. FIG. 17 shows the following parts:

-   -   Buffer Zone 3: This recorded Zone shall consist of 768 Physical        Sectors. The last possible start location of Buffer Zone 3 is        (260540). The Main Data of the Data Frames in this Zone shall be        set to all (00).    -   Outer Disc Identification Zone: 256 Physical Sectors reserved        for information agreed upon by the data interchange parties.        Each set of 16 Physical Sectors from one ECC Block is either a        Disc Control Block (DCB) or recorded with all (00) Main Data.        The contents of this Zone shall be equivalent to the contents of        the last Inner Session Identification Zone (or to the contents        of the Inner Disc Identification Zone in case of a        Single-session disc).    -   Guard Zone 2: This Guard Zone is used as a protection for        separating test writing zones from information zones containing        user data. This Zone shall be filled with Main Data set to (00).        This zone shall contain a minimum of 4096 Physical Sectors.    -   Outer Drive Area: The Outer Drive Area is the outermost zone of        the disc which is used by the drive for performing disc tests        and OPC algorithms.

FIG. 18 shows the Outer Drive Area, starting at the Guard zone 2. Thenthe following parts are shown:

-   -   Outer Disc Administration Zone: 4096 Physical Sectors to be used        for optional drive specific information. The first 16 physical        sectors of this Zone shall be filled with all Main Data set to        (00). This zone can be used in the same way as the Inner Disc        Administration Zone (see 0).    -   Outer Disc Count Zone: 4096 Physical Sectors reserved for        counting the number of OPC algorithms performed in the Outer        Disc Test Zone.    -   Outer Disc Test Zone: 16384 Physical Sectors reserved for drive        testing and OPC algorithms. Whenever an ECC Block or part of it        in the Outer Disc Test Zone has been recorded, the ECC Block        shall be flagged by recording 4 Physical Sectors in the Outer        Disc Count Zone.    -   Guard Zone 3: This Zone shall remain blank.

FIG. 19 shows the layout of the Information Zone of a Multi-sessiondisc. There can exist more than one session on the disc; session 1,session 2 and the last session N are shown. A session with an Intro anda Closure is called a Closed Session. The first Session shall bepreceded by a Lead-in Zone instead of an Intro Zone, the final Sessionshall be followed by a Lead-out Zone instead of a Closure Zone. Once aLead-out Zone has been recorded, the disc is called “finalized” and noadditional recordings to the disc shall be allowed. A session without anIntro and a Closure is called an Open Session. All sessions must beClosed Sessions, except for the last one, which is allowed to be an OpenSession. User Data can only be appended to an Open Session. If allsession are closed, a new Open Session can be added. The first ClosedSession on the disc shall have a Lead-in as described with FIG. 15.Subsequent Closed Sessions shall have an Intro as defined below. EveryClosed Session shall have a Closure as defined below, except for theFinal Session, which shall have a Lead-out as described with referenceto FIG. 17.

Each new Session that occurs after the first Session starting at PSN30000, shall start with an Intro Zone. The Intro Zone consists of aBuffer Zone A, an Inner Session Identification Zone, a Session ControlData Zone and a Buffer Zone B. All Physical Sectors in the Intro Zoneshall have bits b27 to b26 of the Data Frame set to ZERO ZERO,identifying the Intro Zone as if it was a Data Zone as described withreference to FIG. 9. The Buffer Zone A consists of 64 Physical Sectorswhich shall be set (00). The Inner Session Identification Zone consistsof 256 Physical Sectors reserved for information agreed upon by the datainterchange parties. Each set of 16 Physical Sectors from one ECC Blockis either a Disc Control Block (DCB) (see FIG. 21) or recorded with all(00) Main Data. Each ECC Block in this Zone following one recorded withall (00) Main Data shall also be recorded with all (00) Main Data. TheSession Control Data Zone consists of 640 Physical Sectors from 40 ECCBlocks. The content of the 16 Physical Sectors of each ECC Block isrepeated 40 times. The structure of a Control Data Block shall be asshown in FIG. 16. Finally Buffer Zone B consists of 64 Physical Sectorswhich shall be set (00).

Each Session shall end with a Closure Zone consisting of two parts; aBuffer Zone C and an Outer Session Identification Zone. All PhysicalSectors in the Closure Zone shall have bits b27 to b26 of the Data Frameset to ZERO ZERO, identifying the Closure Zone as if it was a Data Zone.The Buffer Zone C consists of 768 Physical Sectors which shall be set(00). The Outer Session Identification Zone consists of 256 PhysicalSectors reserved for information agreed upon by the data interchangeparties. Each set of 16 Physical Sectors from one ECC Block is either aDisc Control Block (DCB) (see FIG. 21) or recorded with all (00) MainData. The contents of this Zone shall be equivalent to the contents ofthe last Inner Identification Zone.

Write once type record carriers, e.g. DVD+R discs, shall be recordedsequentially from the inner side of the disc towards the outer side ofthe disc. Compatibility with Read Only devices can only be attained,when the disc has a Lead-in Zone, all Session have been closed and thereare no blank areas between the start of the Lead-in Zone and the end ofthe last Closure or Lead-out Zone.

FIG. 20 shows details of opened Session n. New data can be added to thedisc by appending data to an Open Session. If all Sessions have beenclosed, a new Session shall be opened. A new Session is opened byrecording Buffer Zone A and an SDCB (Session Disc Control Bloc, see FIG.22) in the first ECC Block of the Inner Session Identification Zone.Additionally Buffer Zone B of the Intro shall be recorded. The firstSession on a blank disc is opened by recording Reserved Zone 2 plus anSDCB in the first ECC Block of the Inner Disc Identification Zone, andadditionally Buffer Zone 2 of the Lead-in Zone in case of the firstSession on a blank disc shall be recorded. User Data added to the DataZone shall be linked immediately to previously written User Data in theData Zone or to previously written data in one of the Reserved Areas. Ifa recorded area is preceded by a Reserved Area, an additional ECC Blockis needed as a run-in for the first ECC Block of the recorded area. Theadditional ECC Block has to be considered as being part of the recordedarea, and hence does not belong to the preceding Reserved Area.

The Closure Zone is defined as follows. At closing a Session, BufferZone C shall be recorded together with the Outer Session IdentificationZone.

When no more sessions are to be recorded the user can decide to finalizethe disc. When the disc is being finalized, instead of a Closure Zone aLead-out Zone as described above with reference to FIG. 17 shall berecorded. After finalizing the disc, adding data is no longer possible.

FIG. 21 shows the general format of a Disc Control Block. Disc ControlECC Blocks (DCBs) are provided as a structure on the disc to includeadditional information for interchange between the data interchangeparties. DCBs are recorded in the Inner and Outer Identification Zonesof the disc or the Session. All DCBs shall have the same format for thefirst 40 data bytes. A special DCB is defined to reflect the status ofthe Session(s). If a Disc Control Block has to be updated, a substituteDCB shall be written immediately following the last written DCB in theInner Session Identification Zone. Once a Session has been closed, theDCBs can no longer be updated. The Main Data of each Disc Control Blockis defined as follows (see FIG. 21):

Bytes D0 to D3—Content Descriptor

-   if set to (00000000) the DCB is unused. The Content Descriptor of    all subsequent DCBs in this Inner or Outer Identification Zone shall    be set to (00000000). All remaining bytes, D4 to D2 047 of Physical    Sector 0 and D0 to D2 047 of Physical Sector 1 to 15 shall be set to    (00).    -   if set to (53444300) this DCB is a Session DCB (SDCB) as defined        below.    -   all other values for the Content Descriptor are reserved.        Each new DCB added to the Inner or the Outer Identification        Block shall be written at the first available unwritten DCB        location.        Each DCB with a Content Descriptor not set to (00000000) in the        Inner Identification Zone of a Session shall have an identical        DCB in the Outer Identification Zone in the respective Session.        The order of the DCBs in the Inner Identification Zone shall be        the same as the order in the Outer Identification Zone.        Bytes D4 to D7—Unknown Content Descriptor Actions    -   These bits are provided to specify required actions when the        content and use of the DCB are unknown (i.e. the content        descriptor is not set to a known assigned value). These bytes        form a field consisting of 32 individual bits.

Bits b31 to b4 Reserved. These bits shall be set to all ZERO. Bit b3 DCBrewrite, if set to ONE, substituting the current DCB shall not beallowed, else it shall be set to ZERO. Bit b2 Formatting, if set to ONE,reformatting of the disc shall not be allowed or is not possible, elseit shall be set to ZERO. Bit b1 DCB read protect, if set to ONE, theinformation in this DCB is meant for use by the drive only and shall notbe transferred outside the drive, else it shall be set ZERO. Bit b0 DataZone write, if set to ONE, recording shall not be allowed in the DataZone, else it shall be set to ZERO.Bytes D8 to D39 Drive ID

-   -   Bytes D8 to D39 shall contain a unique descriptor, identifying        the drive that has written the DCB. The format of this unique        drive identifier shall be as follows: bytes D8 to D23 shall        identify the manufacturer of the drive. Bytes D24 to D35 shall        identify the model name/type number of the drive. Bytes D36 to        D39 shall contain a unique serial number of the drive. The 4        bytes shall form one 32-bit binary number.    -   Bytes D40 to D2047 Content Descriptor Specific. The bytes are        specified by the description for the DCB with the actual Content        Descriptor value. Physical Sector 1 to 15: Bytes D0 to D2047        Content Descriptor Specific. The bytes are specified by the        format description for the DCB with the actual Content        Descriptor value.

FIG. 22 shows the Format of the Session Disc Control Block (SDCB). Boththe Lead-in/Intro Zone and the Lead-out/Closure Zone of a Session shallcontain an SDCB containing a Session map of the Session. The SDCB in theInner and Outer Session Identification Zones shall be identical and havethe content as follows:

-   Physical Sector 0/bytes D₀ to D₃—Content Descriptor. These bytes    identify the Session DCB and shall be set to (53444300),    representing the characters “SDC” and the version number 0.-   Physical Sector 0/byte D₄ to D₇—Unknown Content Descriptor Actions.    The bytes shall be set to (0000000D) indicating that if this DCB is    not known to the system, the DCB shall not be substituted, the disc    can not be reformatted, writing to the Data Zone shall not be    allowed, while transferring the DCB information from the drive to    the host computer is allowed.-   Physical Sector 0/byte D₈ to D₃₉—Drive ID. These bytes shall contain    the drive ID as specified above with FIG. 21, bytes D₈ to D₃₉.-   Physical Sector 0/bytes D₄₀ to D₄₁—Session number. These bytes shall    specify the sequence number of the Session to which the SDCB    belongs. The first Session shall have sequence number 1 and each    subsequent Session number shall be incremented by one.-   Physical Sector 0/byte D₄₂ to D₆₃—Reserved. These bytes are reserved    and shall be set to (00)-   Physical Sector 0/bytes D₆₄ to D₉₅—Disc ID. In the SDCB in the Inner    Disc Identification Zone in the Lead-in Zone of the first Session,    these 32 bytes shall be recorded with a random, statistically    unique, 256-bit binary number at initialization of the disc (opening    of the first Session). In the SDCB in the Inner Session    Identification Zone in the Intro of each next Session, bytes D₆₄ to    D₉₅ shall be set to all (00).-   Physical Sector 0/byte D₉₆ to D₁₂₇—Application dependent field. The    field shall consist of 32 bytes and is reserved for use by the    application to store information such as specific copy protection    data. If this setting is not specified by the application, the bytes    shall be set to (00). In each Session these bytes can be set    independently.-   Physical Sector 0/byte D₁₂₈ to D₂ ₀₄₇—Session items (SES). These    bytes are grouped in units of 16 bytes each. Each unit of 16 bytes    can contain one of two different types of SES items:    -   a Reserved Area item that specifies Reserved Areas in the        current Session    -   a Previous Session item that specifies the start and end        addresses of previous Sessions.        All unused bytes shall be set to (00).

FIG. 23 shows a Reserved Area item. An SDCB can contain more than 1Reserved Area item. If there are no Reserved Areas, there shall be noReserved Area items. If a new Reserved Area has to be added to anexisting Open Session, a new SDCB is written in the Inner IdentificationZone of the current Session, immediately following the last SDCB. Thelast written SDCB in the Inner Identification Zone is the valid SDCB.Reserved Areas in a Session shall not be overlapping. The Reserved Areaitems shall be ordered with increasing addresses. The Figure shows thelayout of the Reserve Area item as follows:

-   byte B₀ to B₂: these 3 bytes identify the item type and shall be set    to (525356), representing the characters “RSV”.-   byte B₃: this byte shall specify the sequence number of the Reserved    Area. The first Reserved Area in the Session shall have sequence    number 1 and each subsequent Reserved Area number shall be    incremented by one.-   byte B₄ to B₇: these 4 bytes shall specify the PSN of the first    Physical Sector belonging to the Reserved Area specified in this    item.-   byte B₈ to B₁₁: these 4 bytes shall specify the PSN of the last    Physical Sector belonging to the Reserved Area specified in this    item.-   byte B₁₂ to B₁₅: these 4 bytes are reserved and shall be set to    (00).

FIG. 24 shows a Previous Session item. An SDCB shall contain a PreviousSession item for each Session preceding the current Session. The SDCB ofthe first Session shall not contain a Previous Session item. ThePrevious Session items shall be ordered with increasing addresses. TheFigure shows the layout of the Previous Session item as follows: byte B₀to B₂: these 3 bytes identify the item type and shall be set to(53534E), representing the characters “SSN”.

-   byte B₃: this byte shall specify the sequence number of the Previous    Session specified in this item.-   byte B₄ to B₇: these 4 bytes shall specify the PSN of the first    Physical Sector in the Data Zone of the Previous Session specified    in this item.-   byte B₈ to B₁₁: these 4 bytes shall specify the PSN of the last    Physical Sector in the Data Zone of the Previous Session specified    in this item.-   byte B₁₂ to B₁₅: these 4 bytes are reserved and shall be set to    (00).

Although the invention has been explained mainly by embodiments usingthe DVD+R, similar embodiments are suitable for other optical recordingsystems. Also for the information carrier an optical disc has beendescribed, but other media, such as a magnetic disc or tape, may beused. It is noted, that in this document the word ‘comprising’ does notexclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed andthe word ‘a’ or ‘an’ preceding an element does not exclude the presenceof a plurality of such elements, that any reference signs do not limitthe scope of the claims, that the invention may be implemented by meansof both hardware and software, and that several ‘means’ may berepresented by the same item of hardware. Further, the scope of theinvention is not limited to the embodiments, and the invention lies ineach and every novel feature or combination of features described above.

1. Device for recording information on a track (9) of a record carrier (11), which record carrier (11) comprises a disc information area with information about the record carrier (11), the device comprising disc information reading means (35) for reading the disc information area, characterized in that the disc information reading means (35) are arranged for reading at least one extended information block in the disc information area which extended information block comprises at least one additional parameter and a block version number indicator indicative of the definition of the additional parameter.
 2. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that disc information reading means (35) are arranged for reading the disc information area of a record carrier (11) which disc information area comprises extended information indicators which indicate the presence and location of the extended information blocks.
 3. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that disc information reading means (35) are arranged for reading the disc information area of a record carrier (35) which disc information area comprises more than one extended information block and that a predetermined value of the block version number of an extended information block indicates that that parameter block is a continuation of a preceding extended information block.
 4. Device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the disc information reading means (35) are arranged for reading the disc information area of a record carrier (11) which disc information area comprises six extended information blocks.
 5. Record carrier (11) having a track (9) for recording information, the record carrier (11) comprising a disc information area with information about the record carrier (11), characterized in that the disc information area further contains at least one extended information block which extended information block comprises at least one additional parameter and a block version number indicator indicative of the definition of the additional parameter.
 6. Record carrier (11) as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the information area further contains extended information indicators which indicate the presence and location of the extended information blocks.
 7. Record carrier (11) as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the information area contains more than one extended information block and that a predetermined value of the block version number of an extended information block indicates that that parameter block is a continuation of a preceding extended information block.
 8. Record carrier (11) as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the information area contains six extended information blocks.
 9. Method of recording information on a track (9) of a record carrier (11), which record carrier (11) comprises a disc information area with information about the record carrier (11), the method comprising a step of reading the disc information area, characterized in that the method further comprises a step of reading at least one extended information block in the disc information area which extended information block comprises at least one additional parameter and a block version number indicator indicative of the definition of the additional parameter.
 10. Method as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the method comprises a step of reading the disc information area of a record carrier (11) which disc information area comprises six extended information blocks.
 11. Method as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the method comprises a step of reading the disc information area of a record carrier (11) which disc information area comprises extended information indicators which indicate the presence and location of the extended information blocks.
 12. Method as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the method comprises a step of reading the disc information area of a record carrier (11) which disc information area comprises more than one extended information block and that a predetermined value of the block version number of an extended information block indicates that that parameter block is a continuation of a preceding parameter block. 